Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook celebrates with teammate CJ Ham (30) after scoring on an 85-yard touchdown run in the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray throws a pass during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins looks to throw a pass during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook (33) runs from Arizona Cardinals defenders Tramaine Brock (20) and D.J. Swearinger (36) during an 85-yard touchdown run in the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Arizona Cardinals place kicker Zane Gonzalez (5) kicks a 32-yard field goal in front of Minnesota Vikings cornerback Trae Waynes, left, during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

The Vikings quarterback began the preseason with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 at New Orleans, albeit he played just one series. Cousins got an entire first half Saturday, and had an ugly passer rating of 39.6.

The Vikings did defeat Arizona 20-9 at U.S. Bank Stadium in the third preseason game thanks to an 85-yard touchdown run by Dalvin Cook early and third-string quarterback Kyle Sloter engineering two late-touchdown drives. But in between there was little shown by the Vikings’ offense.

Cousins completed just 3 of 13 passes for 35 yards. He was sacked twice for losses of 11 yards.

“Really disappointing performance,’’ Cousins said. “Put it on me. It wasn’t good enough. If we play that way during the season, it’s going to be a very tough year. We have to be much better than we were (Saturday). And I really should say I have to be much better than I was. It’s about as simple as that.”

On Minnesota’s second possession, Cook broke through the line for a long touchdown run and a 7-3 lead. Cook, playing for the first time in the preseason after being rested for two games, had two carries for 88 yards.

“I’m always confident,’’ he said of the touchdown “That’s just me, man. I feel like if I get to the second level, it’s my job to change the scoreboard.’’

There wasn’t any other changing of it on Minnesota’s side in the first three quarters. At halftime, the Vikings had just 35 yards of total offense excluding Cook’s run.

“I think especially after Dalvin’s long touchdown I felt like they relaxed and got slower and tempo-wise we didn’t get in and out of the huddle,’’ said head coach Mike Zimmer. “We were slower at the line of scrimmage. We dropped balls, had penalties. I’ll leave it at that.’’

Zimmer called it “a poor performance.’’ Then again, he actually did praise Sloter.

After backup quarterback Sean Mannion played the third quarter and the first minute of the fourth, Sloter entered the game with the Vikings trailing 9-7. He led them to a 7-yard touchdown run by Mike Boone for a 13-9 lead with 8:20 left and then threw a 15-yard TD pass to fullback Khari Blasingame on fourth-and-2 for a 20-9 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

Sloter completed 6 of 7 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown and a passer rating of 158.3. Yes, that’s perfect.

And Zimmer had nothing but compliments for Sloter after last Tuesday saying he had a lot of work to do if he has any hope of being the backup quarterback.

“Every time he’s come in a game, he does well,’’ Zimmer said. “He makes plays, gets the team going. I think he’s done a good job in the preseason.’’

Zimmer also spoke well of Cook. Other than that, he wasn’t throwing much praise around. He said his level of concern is “high” on Kaare Vedvik, who missed field-goal attempts of 43 and 54 yards.

The defense was up and down, The Vikings didn’t allow a touchdown. Still, with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray completing 14 of 21 passes for 137 yards, they gave up 248 yards in the first half when the first team mostly was in the game.

“Holding them to (three) field goals, that’s good but the ultimate goal is to keep them out of field-goal range and then try to get the ball back to the offense as quick as possible,’’ said safety Anthony Harris.

Not that the first-team offense did much when getting the ball.

“We’ve got a lot to work on,’’ said tackle Riley Reiff. “We’ve got to come back in and get ready to work. It’s kind of a little sour. We won the game but that wasn’t up to our caliber of play.’’

Vikings starters won’t play in the preseason finale next Thursday at Buffalo. They now turn their attention to the regular-season opener Sept. 8 against Atlanta at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“We’ve got to be a lot better,’’ Cousins said. “Thankfully, I know we can be better. … I said to the centers and quarterbacks as we took the field for warmups, every time you step out there, this is your resume. You have to put your name on it, whether it’s preseason, regular season, postseason. … I’m disappointed that I’ve got to put my name on (Saturday’s game), and it’s the kind of thing that I’ll be pretty cranky with my wife (Saturday) when I go home.’’

Chris joined the Pioneer Press in 2013 to cover the Vikings. He was a longtime NBA writer with the Akron Beacon Journal, Rocky Mountain News and AOL FanHouse. Before coming to Minnesota, he covered the Miami Heat and Dolphins for Fox Sports. Chris has won six awards in the past three Pro Football Writers of America contests. Chris is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he spent his college years watching the losingest team in the history of Division I-A football.

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